Thanksgiving & Black Friday

Our Thanksgiving Day started out on a foggy note. That however didn't stop Barrett from getting up bright foggy and early, to shoot his gun. No, he wasn't shooting turkey, just some diet coke cans.

Ryan and I were so excited to host all of our families for the first Thanksgiving at Rough Creek!
Our little turkeys!!

Our family.....SO much to be thankful for!!!!

We had a total of 26 people at our dinner so we had to eat in shifts, ha!! First up were the kiddos. We decided to put the kiddos outside, less mess!!!!

It's more fun at the kids table!!

The "Barrett" girls!!

Some of the Thanksgiving guests, the other kids table ;)

It was a great day of fellowship and family. We enjoyed having the Barrett, Hopson, Lair, and Todd families. I think the first turkey day at Rough Creek was a success and we look forward to many more!! The boys ALL loaded up for a ride before we all headed our separate ways.

My boys and Kolby headed to North Texas for some hunting. I decided against hunting and went to Lufkin with my MIL and SIL for some black Friday shopping. Last year was my first experience doing it. I didn't really buy much, but I had fun spending time with Dori and Teresa. After studying all the ads we were ready to shop. We left the house at 8:45 pm on Thursday, our first stop was Walmart. There are really NO WORDS!! If you haven't ever experienced Black Friday, well frankly your missing out on some pretty hilarious behavior!!!

Yes, this would be ADULT people riding in buggies. I told you NO WORDS!!!!!!

We got some good deals at Walmart, we each got 40" T.Vs for cheap!! I also got a few toys checked off the list! After Walmart we headed to Belk to wait in line. Teresa and Dori read that the first 250 people to get in Belk when it opened at 3 a.m. would get gift cards worth anywhere from $5 to one with $1000. I was skeptical to say the least. I didn't really need anything in Belk so the thought of waiting outside, in line, in the cold was less than desirable. We got in line at 1 a.m. We did have fun eating Whataburger and talking with the girls around us. We were all just hoping to get a card PERIOD!! As the time grew closer to opening, people were trying to cut in line and sneak in. Everyone in line was getting antsy!! I was afraid of being trampled all for a $5 dollar gift card, AHHHHH!!!!!! So finally the time came and we were let inside to shop. Teresa and Dori made there way in, I seriously just held on to Teresa's purse strap and followed. Thankfully we all got gift cards!!! We all scratched them off, Teresa got $10, Dori got $5, and when I scratched mine off I got $100!!! I was excited and said WOO HOO, I got $100!!! Some girl heard me and asked what I said. I told her I got $100 and she explained to me that there were 3 cards with $100 on them, but one of those was actually the $1000 and I had to take it to a register to have it checked. I somehow in all the craziness outside missed that part of the bullhorn speech, ha!! Teresa and Dori were freaking out, I was like, Y'all I did not win it, I'm sure!!!!! So I headed up to the register and people were following me so they could watch and see if I won, it was so hilarious!! The cashier took my card and slid it through and low and behold......... I WON the $1000!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! So funny!!! It made the whole Black Friday craziness worth while!!

After Belk we were worn OUT. We headed home to sleep for a bit! Later that day Jack and I headed over to visit Mary Michael and Mille at SuSu's house. Blurry picture, but SuSu with the kiddos!!

The boys were having a blast hunting in North Texas, but could have done without the 30 MPH winds. Barrett at one point asked Ryan if the stand was going to blow over!! Barrett has been shooting his BB gun, and shot gun for a while. He had been apprehensive about shooting his rifle, this weekend he finally practiced shooting with it. This was his first 2 shots, not bad. Takes after his Mommy!!!!
Kolby shot a 9 point, his first buck! Great deer Kolby!!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, now it's time to get those decorations out!!! YEA for Christmas time!!!

Wrap up

This post covers our short week before Thanksgiving. The boys both had Thanksgiving feasts at school on Tuesday, here are my little Indians.

Jack LOVED his outfit, I had a hard time getting it off of him. I actually had to hide it!!
Tuesday evening we attended our friend Will's 7th birthday party. He had a cookout and then a hayride through SantaLand!

Barrett and the birthday boy, Will!
All the BOYS.....ready to go on the hayride!!

My sweet boys and I bundled up on the trailer for the hayride!!
On Wednesday we had our Thanksgiving lunch at the Dealerships. I cooked (by overwhelming request) green bean bundles and pumpkin dump cake. The boys were so excited to go to the dealerships, it's like a huge amusement park for them! HA!!


Yes.....this is Barrett's idea of fun. After he and Ryan fried up a TON of venison he thought it would be fun to mop the shop. Really?!? For some reason he loves to work in the shop, but if I asked him to help at home I would get a totally different reaction.
We have so much to be Thankful for this year. We have wonderful employees that work so hard and we are SO grateful for each and everyone of them!! After a wonderful, HUGE assortment of great food it was time to head to Rough Creek to get ready for the BIG day on Thursday. More food....if that's possible.

Fun Friday

We had a very fun Friday. Jack and I took Ashley and Asher out to Posodos for lunch, her bday was this week. After lunch we all headed to Starbucks for the BOGO holiday drinks, I tried the Carmel Brulee Latte. YUM!!! We then headed back to Lindale to do school pick ups. Before we grabbed Barrett from school Jack and I had to run by the High School to pick a ticket and shirt. I totally forgot about the football teams send off and I had to pull through the WHOLE thing, I felt like a huge dork. People were looking at me and waving, HA!! The dealerships do a lot for the Athletic department so when people saw my car with the football stickers, I think they thought I was supposed to be there. OH MY!! I did snap a picture as the boys were heading to the buses, GO EAGLES!!

After school we came home and got Barrett ready to go to the playoff game. Some friends asked him to go with them to Forney, and he really wanted to go. I was worn out and didn't want to take the boys by myself since Ryan was hunting so it worked out great! My sweet B-man all ready to go!
Liz, Ryder's mom send me pics from the game. Here are the boys ready for the action to start!
Unfortunately, the Eagles were terribly defeated, I know they played hard. Barrett must have been tired, because Ryder game him a piggy back ride out of the stadium. HA!!
Barrett had a great time and spent the night with the Johnsons!! Proud of you B!! Liz text me and said they got along great and that Barrett was one of the best behaved kids that they had over. WHAT?!? Don't get me wrong, great news, just a little unexpected. Just kidding!! I know all kids act better away from their parents!

Breaking Dawn

Yes, finally the time arrived for my completely inappropriate obsession with Twilight to continue! I am only a little embarrassed to say that I had been looking forward to November 17th for quite a while now. Ashley, Anna, Chelsey and I all braved the crowd and headed to Tyler for the midnight showing of BREAKING DAWN!! (Sorry for the blurry Iphone pics)

The LINE.... CRAZY!
Waiting for the show to start.

I was so worn out after a day of shopping at Mistletoe and Magic, but there was NO way I was missing this movie. The movie was the best one yet!! Yes, I am aware how old I am, and no I don't care. What a great time, with some wonderful girls!! Now seriously, we have to wait a full year for the second part?!?

Boys Birthday Party at Rough Creek

Saturday November 12th was the boys birthday party at Rough Creek. I was up bright and early and couldn't resist this beautiful sunrise. We had all been looking so forward to this day for so long. It was also the first time most of our friends came to Rough Creek, so it was technically a bday party/housewarming.

I could not believe it was finally "finished", well I'm not sure it will ever be truly finished there always seems to be some project. Ryan's Mom brought us a few housewarming gifts. This sign is just perfect, we love it Nana!!

Nana also made they boys some precious name plates, the were perfect for the playhouse!

Here is sweet B-man all camo painted up, ready to party! How are you 7 years old Dude?!?

Jack ready for the festivities too!! My sweet 3 year old boy!!

It was a beautiful day, the only problem was that the wind was blowing literally about 20 MPH. I mean seriously!! My tables and decorations were being beat down with storm grade winds, but we made it work.

We had hotdogs and a bunch of snacky appetizers. I made these cute cookies from pintrest, they were originally Rudolph cookies, but I made them just plain deer.

The boys cake turned out cute, it was what else, CAMO!!

My birthday boys! They look just beside themselves huh?? HA!! Thanks for the smiles boys.

As soon as the kiddos arrived they hit the pond. I could see the fear in the Mom's faces, ha!! I assured them that the red dirt would come out and they relaxed, a little. The kids were running around like crazy, exploring everything.

Time for a Hayride!!

All the Mom's enjoying some girl time during the extra long hayride.

Next was the birthday cake. Now nevermind that I forgot the candles, a sparkler worked just fine!! No those kids are not the birthday boys, I some how managed to NOT get them in the picture??

Finally....it was present time! It was a frenzy of tissue paper!! Christie and I did our best to keep the gifts straight. Let me just say, doing gifts for two kids at a time is challenging to say the least. AHHH!!!

Shi' Shi' and I. So we were both feeling Missoni that evening, not planned, HA!

Next up.... Smores time! What a mess, there was stickiness everywhere!!!! I just noticed that B is roasting like 20 marshmallows in this picture. WHO knows?!?

The kiddos ended the night in the giant bounce house. It was such a fun night!! The kids had a blast and were completly filthy by the end of the night. I would say the party was a HUGE success!! Thanks to everyone who made the long drive out to Rough Creek!

My sweet B and I, he was worn out!

I also need to say a HUGE thanks to my sweet husband who made all of this possible! He worked SO hard to get Rough Creek ready for the party. It was such an awesome night!!

Let me also add that after reviewing my pictures from that night I will be hiring a photographer next time. That is all! HA!!